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FYROM FM raises identity issue

In comments made to the media following talks with the United Nations mediator in the dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the latter's name, FYROM's foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov said citizens of his country had the right to call themselves "Macedonians."

"Noone can deprive us of the right to be Macedonians and to speak the Macedonian language," Dimitrov said after talks with Nimetz in Skopje.

Nimetz, for his part, said he believed that a solution to the name spat was "necessary" and "possible."

"There are differences in the positions of the two countries but I am optimistic," he said.

Nimetz was in Athens earlier this week for talks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias who reiterated Greece's readiness to reach a solution based on a composite name, noting that a Slavic version of the word Macedonia would be preferable.